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PASSERS-BY had a surprise when a helicopter landed on King George V playing fields in Cosham.

Witnesses saw the aircraft, displaying a royal emblem, land in Portsmouth, at about 5.40pm last night.

It was on the ground for 40 minutes while a Range Rover refuelled its engines.

The helicopter then took off, reportedly to pick up Princess Anne, the Queen’s daughter.

A spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace could not confirm where the helicopter was travelling from and to, but yesterday The Princess Royal visited the Southampton Boat Show.

Portsmouth Ladies U16 football team was training when the helicopter landed.

Jon Fowler, 42, from Hilsea, who had taken his daughter Victoria, 14, to the club’s training session for the evening, said: ‘It was a fair old size. I was surprised to see it there, I’ve never seen a helicopter land in Cosham before. My wife Lisa asked a policeman if anyone famous was inside, because the royal emblem was on the helicopter.

‘They told her it had gone to pick up Princess Anne, so it was all pretty exciting.’

Katie Bundy, 13, from Waterlooville, was at the park with her mother Karen Bundy, 42.

Katie said: ‘I wanted to go over to the helicopter and touch it. It was cool to see it, I wish I had been able to take a picture.’